Fighting Nemo - Emergency Alerts Blasted for East Coast Blizzard

February 07, 2013By: Rachel Ramsey

The East Coast is preparing for a second wind of stormy weather after 2012 Hurricane Sandy with winter storm/blizzard Nemo. The storm is predicted to become a “powerful and potentially historic” February storm, with wind gusts expected to reach 45 mph and snowfall forecasted to reach two feet in some states, giving it the potential to become a top 10 snowstorm all-time in Boston.

Around 4 p.m., some Verizon (News - Alert) mobile users received a severe emergency alert for a blizzard warning until 1 p.m. EST on Saturday. The National Weather Service works with cellphone carriers to distribute these messages. Some other carrier customers, such as AT&T (News - Alert) and Sprint, have yet to receive the blast.

NYC Mayor Bloomberg tweeted earlier today, "We're ready for #Nemo: we have 250,000+ tons of salt on hand, 350 salt spreaders & plows ready to be put on 1,800 Sanitation trucks.” The Metropolitan Transportation Authority also took to Twitter (News - Alert) to issue a warning, saying, “MTA's Tom Prendergast: ‘This is a very serious storm, and we should treat it that way.’ Plan an early departure from work tomorrow.”

Connecticut is one of the states officially under a blizzard warning, with the strongest winds and heaviest snows expected to occur Friday evening into Saturday morning.

The last blizzard to hit Connecticut was the day after Christmas in 2010. Southwestern Connecticut towns saw up to 18 inches of snow with winds as high as 60 mph. That storm closed airports, shut down Metro-North and caused 24,600 Connecticut Light & Power to lose power.

Recommended actions from the National Weather Service say, “Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely. This will lead to Whiteout conditions, making travel extremely dangerous. Do not travel. If you must travel, have a winter survival kit with you. If you get stranded, stay with your vehicle.”